My son is ready, but I am not....

[PCOSMomToTwo]

My baby boy is 10.5 months old and is weaning himself from breast feeding. I absolutely hate the thought of no-longer nursing him. I'm constantly trying to get him to nurse but he pushes me away and refuse to latch more than 10 seconds.

For the last month, I've been able to get one good nursing session ... That's at 10pm at night and he is mostly asleep. All other feeds are a complete struggle.

The fact is, he really is done with nursing. I know he is. My daughter quit nursing at 11 months and it was like over night. One day she nursed, the next day she didn't. It was the most depressing thing to accept.

So any advice on how to handle this dark stage? The end of breast feeding feels like the end of having a baby. Plus, he isn't a very cuddly baby so the only closeness we had was our nursing. Other than that, he is a rough, loud, rambunctious little boy.

I sit here nearly in tears. I know this is going to trigger depression and I don't know how to work through it. My plan has always been to nurse to about 18 months but neither of my kids are giving me that option. Sadness. Such sadness.

 

[Kess]

Honestly, it sounds like a nursing strike rather than weaning. Weaning is gradual, not overnight, and it's incredibly, incredibly rare for a baby to self-wean before a year old (rare even before 2 years).

Have you read KellyMom's stuff on nursing strikes? She has a bunch of stuff on self-weaning and on mother-led weaning, nursing strikes, etc.

 

[Super G]

Yep, agree with Kess. Sounds like a nursing strike to me.

Plus, babies at that age are so distractable. Always something more interesting to get into or look at.

Keep offering. Especially when he's either going off to sleep or just waking. Let him feed to sleep on your lap & comfort nurse. Feed somewhere with little distractions. I had some sucess with feeding walking around carrying her when she was too distracted to settle on my lap.
Its not uncommon for mums to think babies are weaning at this age, but I just don't think its very likely.
Could he have teeth coming through or have a cold, bunged up nose?
Don't give up, I'm sure you can get through it. Might need to express a bit to keep your supply going.

 

[PCOSMomToTwo]

Ya I think I'm going to pump 3 times per day to increase my supply as I know it's so poorly.

Over the last month he went from nursing really well, to just a few times, to a couple. It's frustrating.

He did get his first 2 teeth this month so I know that is bothering him.

I hate this part of nursing. It's stressful. But in the same token, I love nursing.